in 1629, Condren succeeded him as Superior General of the Oratory. Condren was elected very quickly to avoid intervention by Cardinal Richelieu. The Oratory had 71 houses in 1631, but Condren was discouraged and came near to resigning in 1634. He was also a member of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. The work Condren had most at heart was the foundation of seminaries after the Counter-Reformation model mandated by the Council of Trent. The Catholic Church felt that its success in its own renewal lay in the thorough and systematic formation of the clergy through their education in these schools. Condren gathered a few young ecclesiastics around him for that purpose. The missions in which he employed them were meant to impress on their minds the religious needs of the country. A disciple of both Vincent de Paul, and Condren, Jean-Jacques Olier took part in "missions" organized by them in France. Condren was Olier's confessor, and counseled him not accept an appointment to a bishopric; instead Olier went on to found the Society of Saint Sulpice whose main purpose was the education of priests. In 1638 he created the College of Juilly, where, at his death, he was laid to rest in the chapel, next to the tomb of Cardinal Bérulle. His first biography was published in 1643 by a member of the French Oratory, Denis Amelote (reviewed in 1657). See also French school of spirituality Nicolas Malebranche References Further reading P. Auvray et A. Jouffrey, Lettres du Père Charles de Condren, Paris, Cerf, 1943 R. Deville, L'école française de spiritualité, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 1987 McGrath-Merkle, Clare. Berulle's Spiritual Theology of Priesthood. Munster, 2018. External links Charles de Condren (2005) vénérable père CHARLES DE CONDREN théologien, docteur de Sorbonne second général de l'Oratoire (1588-1641) – LA VOIE MYSTIQUE Charles de Condren. The Eternal Sacrifice 1588 births 1641 deaths People from Aisne 17th-century French Roman Catholic priests 17th-century Christian mystics Roman Catholic mystics Burials in Île-de-France French Christian mystics French school of spirituality French Oratory mystics